updated 06:45 pm EDT, Sat March 24, 2012

Instagram queues up first Android users

Instagram chose Saturday to post a sign-up page for its long-awaited Android port. While it's not clear if the page is to register for early access or just for a notification, visitors are encouraged to give an e-mail address to be "first in line." No clues were given as to when the app itself would show or its features.

Company co-founder Kevin Systrom has previously hinted that the Android version might be weeks away. He has also implied that it might have more features than its iOS counterpart, although without elaborating on how.

The app has long symbolized what many have seen as a difference in the app communities between iOS and Android. Instagram's success has often been credited to better exposure in the App Store as well as an easier time scaling on a relatively straightforward platform. Its timing was also near ideal, as it came out just when the iPhone 4 launched and Apple was devoting its attention to camera quality.

Instagram got one of its largest leaps with the iPhone 4S release and is now at more than 27 million users. Android's prospects aren't clear. Although now the largest platform by numbers and increasing in app count, Android has both a more splintered device range as well as the Google Play Store's historical difficulty in exposing new apps.